HVAC

The New Smart & Connected Home With Nest

Today's modern home is defined by its connectivity. Incorporating Nest and Works with Nest products into your homes can go a long way to attracting customers who are interested in buying the smart and connected home.
Dec. 29, 2016
3 min read

Imagine this: You park in your driveway. Your garage door opens. Your lights turn on. Your house is cooled to the right temperature. Your door unlocks. Your shades open to let in the light from the setting sun.

And you didn’t press a single button.

This is not some far-off, futuristic scenario. All of this is available to you today when you choose to incorporate Nest and Works with Nest products into your homes.

Your customers have changed. They now carry supercomputers in their pockets. This unfettered access to technology has changed expectations. Your customers now want to seamlessly communicate with their cars and homes the same way they navigate their lives through their phones. According to a recent study of American homeowners, Coldwell Banker found that nearly 1 in 2 homeowners now define a move-in ready home as containing smart technology.

With so many products flooding the market, you may struggle with where you should invest your time and money. While there are many smart home brands, there are only four brands that are winning the hearts and minds with consumers: Nest, Apple, Amazon and Samsung.

Globally, the entire population is gravitating towards one of two smartphone options – iOS or Android. And your clients will want the products they install in their home to work with their smartphone of choice. Nest is operating system agnostic. This means you could have Android and Apple phones (like my wife and I) and both be able to connect to the devices that manage your home.

Smart thermostats are the gateway to the connected home and I’m not just saying that because I work at Nest. According to a recent Houzz and CEDIA study of 987 homeowners who have either completed a renovation or are about to undertake a renovation, thermostats are the single most popular smart device requested in the connected home. With Time Magazine listing the Nest Learning Thermostat as one of the 50 most influential gadgets of all time, the Nest Thermostat is a great way for builders to affordably and efficiently introduce connectivity into their homes.

And once you’ve chosen the Nest Thermostat as the first device in your smart home, it’s simple to layer additional products that work with the Nest Thermostat. Here are just some of the smart and connected home products that work with Nest.

Google Home. Google Home seamlessly connects with your Nest Thermostat. With a simple voice command, Google Home can change the temperature without you needing to lift a finger.

Rheem Water Heaters. Once a hidden utilitarian device, by introducing connectivity, the Rheem water heater can provide your customers with energy efficiencies when connected to the Nest Thermostat or safety features when integrated with Nest Protect.

Lutron Caséta® Wireless. Your customers will be able to set schedules that fit their family’s routine, and automatically turn lights off and close the shades when they leave or return home.

Rachio Smart Sprinkler. Easily run sprinklers while saving water and money. And when Rachio connects to Nest, it can turn on the sprinklers if Nest Protect senses smoke inside.

Nearly 1 in 2 people surveyed by Houzz and CEDIA replied that installing smart systems or devices are part of their renovation. If existing homes are already prioritizing home technology in their renovations, builders will need to incorporate their own smart and connected solutions in their communities to remain competitive in the marketplace.

To learn more about how you can start installing Nest products and grow your business, please visit nest.com/build

About the Author

Gene LaNois

Gene LaNois is the Head of Professional Channel at Nest, where he leads business and partnerships with professional installers around the world. Gene began his career as an HVACR contractor and brings more than two decades of experience in HVAC sales, distribution and installation to his current role. Prior to joining Nest, Gene served as an integral member of the teams at Honeywell, Carrier Enterprise, and Watsco.

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